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DAVID MOYES is set to escape punishment from the FA for his stinging criticism of Mark Clattenburg.

The Everton manager didn’t hold back in his condemning of the official’s performance after watching his side lose Saturday’s Merseyside derby 2-1.

Moyes was furious that he refused to award an injury-time penalty after Joleon Lescott was clearly wrestled to the ground by Jamie Carragher in full view of Clattenburg.

And the referee had already sent off Tony Hibbert for a professional foul on Steven Gerrard that led to Liverpool’s first penalty before allowing Dirk Kuyt to stay on after aiming a two-footed tackle towards Phil Neville.

Moyes then expressed concern about Clattenburg’s relationship with the Liverpool players, comments that looked set to land him in hot water with the FA.

He suggested Clattenburg changed Hibbert’s card from yellow to red after a word from Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard in the aftermath of the incident – and he also referred to the referee’s involvement in the Asia Cup in Hong Kong in the summer, implying he had a closeness to Liverpool that compromised his impartiality.

However, an FA source

last night revealed it was “highly unlikely” that Moyes would receive any punishment for bringing the game into disrepute.

His comments appear further vindicated by the fact that Clattenburg has been removed from the list of referees for this weekend’s Premiership games although neither he nor the Professional Game Match Officials organisation have acknowledged this is due to Saturday’s errors.

Neville, meanwhile, has also waded into the argument by claiming some referees become too “awestruck” to handle the big occasion.

The Everton captain was also sent off, but justifiably after he handled on the line to concede the penalty that Kuyt converted for the winner.

But the fact that the Dutchman was still on the pitch to do it was one of the decisions Neville feels riled by.

He said: “I have been on the other side of things and you can see that some referees are awestruck when they deal with certain players and certain things.

“To be fair to Dirk Kuyt, he’s said it was a bad tackle and he’s not a malicious player but the bottom line that he should have been sent off.

“We’ve had instances this season where players have been booked for the most trivial of incidents.

“But when you see a leg-breaking tackle like that one receive the same punishment that’s when you get upset.

“We just want referees to be consistent. We have had officials come into our changing rooms this season and explain the rules.

“Two feet off the ground is a red card. That’s why the players, the manager and our supporters feel so let down.

“This isn’t asking for favouritism. We just want consistency and tackles like that to be outlawed.”

Neville and Hibbert will now serve one-match bans for their red cards, both missing this Sunday’s trip to Derby County.